A rope seen hanging from a light pole on Ellis Avenue at 54th Place is a piece of equipment used by electricians and not a noose that some Hyde Parkers feared was left as a bad joke or threat.

Robert Schacht, vice president of Meade Electric Company who is involved with the Overhead Electrical Line Worker Training Program at Dawson Technical Institute of Kennedy-King College, 3901 S. State St., identified the piece of rope as a sling.

“A crane would hook to the sling to lift a light pole into an upright position so the light pole could be bolted to the ground. The sling was probably inadvertently left on the pole by a construction company,” Schacht said. “A company would not normally leave this device on a pole as they would be using it over and over again to erect additional poles.”

Hyde Parkers called police after spotting the item, which was mistaken for a noose, on Sunday.

Charla Draper, who lives in the neighborhood, alerted the University of Chicago Police Department on Sunday after seeing what she thought was either a bad joke or violent threat.

“Of all the communities in the city you wouldn’t expect to find it in Hyde Park. You shouldn’t find it anywhere,” Draper said.

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